Peace Pieces:
Reflections on Violence and Conflict Resolution
This is a collection of poems, art works, and prose about peace and conflict resolution.
In 1996 I sensed the need to write about militarism, propaganda, and prejudice
while working on a collection of environmental poetry, art, and dialogs. As many persons
have pointed out, violence and environmental degradation are often related. We need to examine violence closely and understand what factors foster
both these phenomena and how alternative paths can be learned.
It is more than a coincidence I started these poems when the Bosnian-Serbian conflict in Europe
and the Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Africa were fresh in memory. It was also a year that the U.S. spent
over 300 billion dollars on its military machine while over 40 thousand died in various armed conflicts around the world.
Peace Pieces investigates militarism and violence and suggests some alternatives to them.
At times satiric and perhaps rabid, these works explore the boundaries between polemic,
poetry, and trash. Enjoy the lines, but also pause to consider, "What am I actually doing
to promote peace?" If the answer is "not much" then it is time to do more.

Updated 23 Jan. 2021 Yokohama, Japan
www.tnewfields.info/PeacePoems/